Scriptures for Today: Isaiah 1:10-20
Isaiah 1:10-20
Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. 11 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. 12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? 13 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. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. 15 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. 16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; 17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. 18 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 as wool. 19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
Introduction — Religion Without Righteousness
Isaiah opens with confrontation. God calls His own people: “Ye rulers of Sodom. Ye people of Gomorrah.” He is not speaking to pagans. He is speaking to Judah. They are supposed to be His people who follow Him.
But the LORD is saying: You look like Sodom. You look like Gomorrah. You look the same as them, which is very, very bad. For example, the United States is resembling Sodom and Gomorrah more and more. The biggest cities across this country: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, Philadelphia, San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas, Washington DC, Miami, Atlanta, Boston, Memphis, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Nashville, and Louisville – Are looking more and more like Sodom and Gomorrha
This is chapter one of the Book of Isaiah, and God is telling His people how bad they look in His eyes.
Before promises of the coming Savior or Messiah. Before prophecies of glory. Before the comfort that the word of God brings. God exposes corruption that’s within His people. Why? Because it happened then, and it happens now.
And here is the key issue that you’ll see in the Scriptures for today: They were religious. They offered sacrifices. They held assemblies. In other words, they went to church. They kept feasts.
They prayed.
But God says: “I delight not. I cannot away with. Or I can’t take this or tolerate this. My soul hateth. I am weary. I will not hear.” That’s what God is saying in the book of Isaiah.
Why?
Because their worship was disconnected from obedience. They weren’t obeying God. You can’t worship God and disobey God at the same time. Understand what I mean. If you want to worship God, you better come to Him in obedience. And God is saying He will not put up with what they are doing.
That is the foundation of this passage here today.
Section 1 — The Rebuke Begins
Isaiah 1:10
Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD! God opens by calling Judah “Sodom” and “Gomorrah.”
He is not saying they are literally those cities. He is comparing their moral condition to them. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of wickedness and corruption. There were sodomites in the land. Wickedness. God hates homosexuality. He says so over and over again in the Bible. If you want to argue that, you have ZERO fear of the Lord.
Now God uses those names for His own people because they have turned away from the Lord. And He’s going to end the nation of Judah but not after scores and scores of warnings. God always warns over and over again before He destroys.
So this right here tells you how serious this is. They still had the Temple. They still had sacrifices. They still had feasts. But spiritually, they resembled Sodom. They resembled Gomorrah. Nasty people. Wicked people.
This verse sets the tone for everything that follows today. The issue is not lack of religion.
The issue is moral corruption inside religion. And corruption is everywhere inside the churches today.
“Hear the word of the Lord. Give ear unto the law of our God.” It’s absolutely amazing how much people can hear and give ear to fools on You Tube, Tik Tok, and others. For example, I know people on Tik Tok giving advice on how to live their life why they cheat everyone and lie to everyone around here. And people listen to that cheater and that liar.
They would rather give ear to that man than to the word of God. For example, people come in here to the church services, and they would rather give ear to their phone and put headphones on than give ear to the Scriptures. It’s pretty sad. And the ones that do that will never get any better as they disrespect God and His house and His words. He’s watching everything.
For people who do that, do you even believe there is a God in heaven? This is His house. Jesus is here in the midst of us. Do you believe that? If so, then act like it.
Section 2 — God Rejects Empty Worship
Isaiah 1:11–15
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. 12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? 13 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. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. 15 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.
God says: “I delight not. I cannot away with. My soul hateth. I will not hear.”
Now, this is where we get to learn about the true God of all creation and not this fake pushover false god that this world has created. I love the major prophets section of the Bible. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentation, Ezekiel, and Daniel. I love the minor prophets section of the Bible. Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.
They tell you about the true God of all creation. He’s nothing like you’ll find in these fake Christian churches today.
Look closely at these Scriptures. God says, “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord.” Here’s a good that goes right along with that. “To what purpose are you here at church right now. Why are you here?” God says, “I am full of all your sacrifices. I don’t delight in those sacrifices.”
For example, God doesn’t want your works and your offerings unless you’re doing them for the right reasons. In verse 12, God says: “When you come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?”
This is just like us appearing before God right now. We come to Him in church and we are appearing before Him. Who asked you to come here if you aren’t coming for the right reasons? That’s what God is saying here. He’s saying, “I didn’t ask you to come here like this.” You come to worship God with the right heart. You don’t come here to get this or that or to benefit you in some worldly fashion. You come here to worship God with the right attitude.
And if not, God doesn’t want you here. Get it right. God is saying to not be a pretender. Don’t pretend to worship God.
God says in verse 13, “Bring no more VAIN oblations or worthless sacrifices.” All of it is an abomination or greatly hated by the Lord God Almighty. When you aren’t doing things for the right reason, God hates that. He says the calling of assemblies He can’t even bear to watch. Because it’s nasty. It’s sickening. When we can’t obey God and then we want to try to come and worship Him, He doesn’t want it.
In verse 14, God says “MY SOUL HATETH.” All those worship times when you come but you don’t want to obey God in any other way in your life, He says He hates all your sacrifices, all your works, all your holidays, all your church services. If you want to leave here and act like fools, He doesn’t want you coming to worship Him.
You can either obey God or not obey God. It’s your choice. Get it done. Or don’t get it done.
And if you choose to not obey, look what God says in verse 14 and then moving into 15. “They are a trouble unto me.” All these churches around here are a trouble unto God. They aren’t there to worship God. For example, St. Stephen Devil Church wants to charge you $20 to teach you how to pray. Well, the Bible teaches you how to pray for free. You don’t need devils with a false gospel teaching you how to pray.
That is strong language in the Bible. God says, “I am weary to bear them.” God says in verse 15, “And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you.” Think about that one. Do you know how someone might embarrass you so much that you want hide your eyes from them and not even look at them.
Here’s an example. In this area, everyone just throws trash all over the place because they are too lazy to put it in a trash can. THAT’S LAZY. I want to hide my eyes when I drive through here. The laziness can be seen. PICK IT UP. God hides His eyes from these people.
He says, “When ye make many prayers, I will not hear.” Why is that? He says, “Your hands are full of blood.” I’ve heard stories from people that we talk to during soul winning and that have attended this church. That the leaders in other churches around here molest young girls. That the pastors around here get other women pregnant in the church and the pastor’s wife doesn’t know. Oh she knows. “Your hands are full of blood.”
A false gospel will kill people and send them to hell. And that’s all I see and hear in this area and in this world. The Gospel is not difficult. It’s all about Jesus Christ. It’s not about you. And if you preach and teach people that they must do anything other than BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST to be saved, your hands are full of blood.
So, look, God is saying to not come into his house pretending to worship Him while you refuse to live according to His commandments. It’s someone who is living in open rebellion but still showing up to church. It just doesn’t work that way. You can either get things right or not come to church. That’s what God is saying. Stop pretending and get things right.
If your heart is right with God, and you’re trying to get things right, He wants you here. But if you won’t even try, He doesn’t want you here. It’s all about your heart and where is it when you’re here. Where is it when you leave here? Are you faithful to God or not faithful?
They were praying publicly while living violently. They were offering sacrifices while practicing injustice. They were going through ceremonies while ignoring righteousness. God does not accept worship that covers rebellion. It doesn’t work that way.
Religious activity cannot substitute for obedience. A church service doesn’t substitute for the way you live during the week. It just doesn’t. It can’t. It won’t.
Now, how do you get things right? God’s going to give us the commands in the next verses. Watch exactly what the Lord says.
Section 3 — The Call to Repent
Isaiah 1:16–17
Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; 17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Notice the commands there again. Wash. Make you clean. Put away evil. Cease to do evil. Learn to do well. Seek judgment. Relieve the oppressed. Judge the fatherless. Plead for the widow.
This is not emotional repentance. That’s not crying, shedding tears, using tissue boxes, and then going right back to the same old things. Do you know how many times I’ve seen that? For example, people will cry when I give them the Gospel. They are so happy that Jesus came to save them. They believe on Him. They are saved forever. But then they go right back to the same old things.
Some clown preachers out there will say then they were never saved. They call Jesus Christ a liar over and over again. They will say, “They didn’t truly believe.” And maybe they didn’t truly believe. But if they did, they are saved forever in that moment. They don’t have to change the way they live to be saved.
Now, should they change the way they live? Yes. And God is giving saved people here, many of them were, another chance to live right. He’s giving you that chance too. He wants you to live right.
This is practical repentance. It’s pretty simple. Stop doing evil. Start doing right.
God is not asking for louder singing. He is asking for changed behavior. CHANGE YOUR WAYS. For example, if you get mad at the church because you didn’t get the chips you wanted and you stop coming, there’s a big problem. Why were you coming here? To get a bag of chips? God knoweth. And He will get rid of you out of this place.
We want people here that want to worship God. He gets to choose. He can’t build this church if there aren’t people out there that want to worship Him. Where are they?
They would rather sit at home and worship themselves. Worship that food that God gave them. Worship that TV that they love so much. They’ll watch it more than they’ll hear God’s words. They’ll give ear to that stupid TV over His eternal words. They’ll walk that stupid dog more than they will hear His words. They will buy that stupid dog food and spend all that money on a dog before they would give anything to a good church.
They would never relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, or plead for the widow. They would never help people that are in need. They would never take in the fatherless. They’ll take in dogs and cats and spend money on vet bills, hair appointments for the dogs, have dog birthday parties, dog funerals, and more. BUT THEY WOULD NEVER HELP A FATHERLESS CHILD.
They would never plead for the widow who needs help who lost her husband but is faithful to the Lord. They hate her. But they love the animals so much. They love themselves so much. They worship everything else but God.
They worship that phone in their hands that they can’t put down. People can’t come here without having to find a plug and a charger so their phone doesn’t die in church. “OH NO! WHAT WILL WE DO IF THE PHONE DIES!” Think about the trash that is happening in this world today. No respect for God. No fear of God. NOTHING.
And, if you ask why I preach like this at times, take a look at what we’re reading. THAT’S WHY. GOD is calling for justice. For mercy. For righteousness. He’s sick of it. He’s tired of all the trash. Everything else is more important than Him. EVERYTHING ELSE.
People won’t miss the Super Blow, but they’ll miss church. They wouldn’t even put it even close to the same level. Think about that. There’s not even a thought of which one is more important. The Super Blow is to those people. Everything else is more important. AND GOD IS TIRED OF IT. Don’t call yourself one of His people when everything else is more important.
Again, wash you, make you clean. “Put away the evil of your doings before mine eyes,” God says. Cease to do evil. STOP DOING EVIL. It’s not okay. LEARN TO DO WELL. That means you need to learn how to do better. How? IN CHURCH. That’s what this is for. Maybe that hurts your feelings. But God doesn’t care. Get it right or don’t get it right. Which one?
Section 4 — The Invitation to Reason
Isaiah 1:18
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 as wool.
After strong rebuke, God gives an invitation to you. “Come now.” That is mercy. God is a God of mercy. He’s giving you time to get things right.
“Let us reason together.” God is not irrational. He will listen to you just as He listened to Job. He is not emotional. He invites them to think and reason together with Him. Think about it.
“Though your sins be as scarlet.” Scarlet and crimson are deep stains. Bright. Obvious. Hard to remove. Impossible to remove by you.
God is not minimizing their sin. He is acknowledging it. He doesn’t act like He didn’t see what they were doing. Some kids don’t think adults can see. Some of them think we are blind. We aren’t. We see what you’re doing.
But God promises cleansing to His people. White as snow. White as wool. That is transformation. That is forgiveness. That is redemption. God redeems us from sin.
You can be His and still be living a life of sin. He saved you, but you better get things right. He is just and faithful to forgive us our sins as we live this life. He will cleanse you from all sin even as you live your life. But you have to get things right. Live a good life. Glorify God.
Section 5 — The Choice
Isaiah 1:19–20
If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
This ends with a decision. Which path will you take today and for the rest of your life? WHICH ONE? Make your choice. And I’m not playing either. MAKE THE CHOICE. Willing and obedient. Or refuse and rebel. Submit to God. Get on your knees. OR puff up your chest to God and see what happens. You’ll lose. WINNER OR LOSER. Which one are you choosing?
Blessing. Or destruction. There is no middle ground.
“For the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.” That means it is final.
Not negotiable. God has spoken. “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat of the good of the land. But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be DEVOURED with the sword.” And these were His people right here in Isaiah Chapter 1. What happened to them? DEVOURED WITH THE SWORD. They wouldn’t take the warning. They were fools.
What will you do? Will you take the warning and get it right? Or will you be a fools like them? Don’t be a fool. Choose the good path.
Practical Applications
- Do not hide behind religion. Church attendance, prayer, and singing mean nothing if your life is full of open sin.
- Repentance requires action. Stop the evil. Start doing right. Real repentance shows in behavior.
- No sin is too deep for cleansing. Scarlet and crimson can become white as snow.
- You must choose. Willing and obedient — or refuse and rebel.
Conclusion
Isaiah 1:10–20 shows both judgment and mercy. God rejects empty worship. God exposes hypocrisy. God commands repentance. God offers cleansing. God sets before them a choice.
“Though your sins be as scarlet.” That is hope. But it is not automatic.
“If ye be willing and obedient.” The invitation stands. But so does the warning.
“For the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.”
God gives you a great invitation for a good life with Him. Will you accept His invitation? Or will you reject the Almighty God who saved you and washed you in the blood of Jesus Christ? Be careful. Beware. Hey, get things right and do it now.
Choose you this day whom ye will serve. Let’s pray.
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