“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 of 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 (Isaiah 1:10-13 KJV).
In Isaiah chapter one, Israel was told that everything incorporated in their worship of the Lord was unaccepted and was sin, “iniquity.” Israel’s form and order of worship came directly from God. The order and ministry of the priest, the types of sacrifices, the burning of incense, and everything else that pertained to the worship of God were ordered by God.
Israel’s worship was not rejected by God because they had changed their form of worship, but because it lacked sincerity. It lacked sincerity because they were disobedient to God. They honored God with their lips, but their heart was far from Him. Israel failed to realize that God despises rituals without reality, sacrifices without obedience, and gifts without the giver. Israel’s worship, no doubt, impressed men, but it was an abomination to God.
God referred to the rulers of Israel as the rulers of Sodom and the people as the people of Gomorrah. God was not confused and forgot He had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah about a thousand years earlier. But God referred to Israel as Sodom and Gomorrah because they lived like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah during the week and worshipped like God’s people on their Sabbath days.
The same can be said of Christendom today. We assemble to worship God on Sunday in beautiful buildings with the best choir, the best preacher, and a beautiful form and order of worship while all week we walk in disobedience to Him. We worship like Christians on Sunday but live like the heathen the rest of the week. Our worship may impress man, but it is sin and an abomination to God.
For our worship to be accepted again by God and for us once again to be conscious of His presence in our midst, we must return to Him and walk in obedience to His Word (vv. 16-19). True worship of God is only experienced by a heart that’s obedient to God. A disobedient heart knows nothing of the true worship of God regardless of how much noise they make and the emotions they show.
