{"id":25071,"date":"2023-01-29T22:00:45","date_gmt":"2023-01-30T05:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/isaiah-1_1-9-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-01-26T00:05:30","modified_gmt":"2023-01-26T07:05:30","slug":"isaiah-1_10-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/isaiah-1_10-20\/","title":{"rendered":"What True Worship Looks Like"},"content":{"rendered":"

Isaiah 1:10-20 \u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Isaiah 1:10-20.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Isaiah 1:10 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Hear the word of the\u00a0LORD, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah!<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 10:\u00a0 Why is God now addressing the people of Sodom and Gomorrah?\u00a0 He\u2019s not.\u00a0 Rather God is calling the people of Judah \u201cyou rulers of Sodom\u2026you people of Gomorrah\u201d.\u00a0 It\u2019s because Sodom and Gomorrah were two cities that were destroyed for their wickedness and God is now equating the level of Judah\u2019s sin to that of Sodom and Gomorrah.<\/p>\n

Isaiah 1:11-17 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“The multitude of your sacrifices– what are they to me?” says the\u00a0LORD. “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.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts?
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations– I cannot bear your evil assemblies.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When 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;
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong,
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 11-17:\u00a0 Even though God was the One who originally invited the people of Judah to pray to Him and make sacrifices to Him, God now says that Judah\u2019s prayers and sacrifices are \u201cmeaningless\u201d (v13), \u201cdetestable\u201d (v13) and burdensome (14) to Him.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 It\u2019s because their hearts are otherwise set on acting wickedly (v16-17).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0God does want merely formal, ceremonial worship and offerings.\u00a0 He wants a people who are devoted, heart and soul, to Him<\/strong>, shown not only through their prayers and offerings but through the way they live.\u00a0 God wants people who not only give their prayers and worship but who also \u201cseek justice, encourage the oppressed\u201d, \u201c[d]efend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow\u201d (v17).<\/p>\n

In other words,\u00a0worship is not just the song you sing or the offering you bring.\u00a0 It\u2019s how you live every day for God\u2019s glory, how you treat God and people on a daily basis.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Isaiah 1:18-20 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Come now, let us reason together,” says the\u00a0LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 18-20:\u00a0\u00a0Even after being grieved by the sins of His people, God still leans on the side of reconciliation.<\/strong>\u00a0 \u201cCome now, let us reason together\u201d (v18) is God saying, \u201cCome on, let\u2019s work this out.\u201d\u00a0 With amazing patience and mercy God offers to forgive the people\u2019s sins, to make their scarlet sins white as snow (v18).<\/p>\n

How could God make the people\u2019s sins white as snow?\u00a0 These verses are looking ahead to the day when God would make our reconciliation possible by sending Jesus Christ to die on the cross.<\/p>\n

Jesus\u2019 sacrifice was God making the most incredible peace offering to us.\u00a0 It\u2019s as if God was saying to Judah: \u201cYou don\u2019t need to do anything.\u00a0 I\u2019ll fix it all.\u00a0 I\u2019ll pick up the tab.\u00a0 And I\u2019ll let you off free, because I love you.\u201d\u00a0 That is the incredible grace and mercy of God toward us. \u00a0God\u2019s forgiveness is free, but it\u2019s not cheap, for it was paid by the most precious blood of Jesus.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Isaiah 1:19-20 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land;
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0has spoken.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 19-20:\u00a0 God\u2019s plan was always to bless His people.\u00a0 He knew that if they were willing and obedient to His commands, they would prosper and \u201ceat the best from the land\u201d (v19).\u00a0 He also knew that if they resisted and rebelled, they would suffer.\u00a0 The choice is still ours today.\u00a0\u00a0God gives us His commands for our protection and blessing.\u00a0 The question is whether or not we are willing to obey what He says.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thank You God for showing incredible mercy.\u00a0 Though my sins were as scarlet, through Jesus Christ and His sacrifice You made them white as snow.\u00a0 I don\u2019t need to do anything except receive what You have done for me.\u00a0 Such amazing grace I never deserved.\u00a0 Thank You.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Isaiah 1:10-20.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Isaiah 1:10 (NIV)
\n10\u00a0\u00a0Hear the word of the\u00a0LORD, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah!<\/p>\n

On verse 10:\u00a0 Why is God now addressing the people of Sodom and Gomorrah?\u00a0 He\u2019s not.\u00a0 Rather God is calling the people of Judah \u201cyou rulers of Sodom\u2026you people of Gomorrah\u201d.\u00a0 It\u2019s because Sodom and Gomorrah were two cities that were destroyed for their wickedness and God is now equating the level of Judah\u2019s sin to that of Sodom and Gomorrah.<\/p>\n

Isaiah 1:11-17 (NIV)
\n11\u00a0\u00a0“The multitude of your sacrifices– what are they to me?” says the\u00a0LORD. “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.
\n12\u00a0\u00a0When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25073,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25071"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25071\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25075,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25071\/revisions\/25075"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}