Against An Unthinking People

 "Hear the warning of YAHWEH,

rulers of Sodom.

Listen to the word of GOD, 

people of Gomorrah.

'What do I care,' says YAHWEH

'for your endless sacrifices?

I AM fed up with your burnt offerings,

and the fat of your bulls.

The blood of fatlings, and lambs and he-goats

I abhor, when you come before me and

trample on MY courts.

Who asked you to visit ME?

I AM fed up with your oblations.

I grow sick with your incense.

Your New Moons, Sabbaths and meetings,

evil with holy assemblies,

I can no longer bear.

I hate your New Moons and appointed feasts.

They burden ME.

When you stretch out your hands

I will close MY eyes;

the more you pray,

the more I refuse to listen,

for your hands are bloody.

Wash and make yourselves clean.

Remove from MY sight

the evil of your deeds.

Put an end to your wickedness

and learn to do good.

Seek justice and keep in line the abusers;

give the fatherless their rights

and defend the widow.'"

- Isaiah 1:10-17

(What do I care for your endless sacrifices?  It is characteristic of the prophets to condemn external worship that does not express a true surrender to GOD.  The sacrifices and the festivals in question here were required by the law of GOD; yet GOD says that HE detests them, because when done without proper dispositions, they are a lie [see Psalm 40:7 and 50:16, also, Matthew 5:23].

Give the fatherless their rights.  The Mosaic commandments condemned theft [Exodus 20:14].  The prophets denounce a social system which crushes the lowly.

Some people are fond of great ceremonies, others of their own devotions and prayers and still others, of doing generous and philanthropic works.  When doing this, we may be covering up the injustice we do every day.)

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