SALT & LIGHT God versus False Religion: God wants our faithfulness

Bring no more vain offerings;

incense is an abomination to me.

New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—

I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. ISA 1:13

God wants us to be faithful to Him, not to the rituals we connect to Him. The people of Israel did all the rituals properly—all the assemblies, offerings, and feasts. However, they openly sinned against God at the same time. We can’t say we follow God and “prove” it through empty rituals, while still doing what He hates. What are some present-day rituals or traditions we might be performing emptily?

Rashi

Bring no more vain offerings—I warn you, you shall not bring me your vain offerings, for the smoke that rises from it is smoke of abomination to me, and not for my satisfaction.

New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—I cannot . . .—And sic, does not appear in Parshandatha to call convocations, i.e., New moon and Sabbath when you gather to call a convocation and an assembly on them, I cannot endure the iniquity in your hearts that is inclined to paganism, and the convocation with it, for these two things are incompatible: to call a convocation to gather before me, and the iniquity that is in your hearts for paganism, and you do not take it out of your hearts.

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination;

how much more when he brings it with evil intent. PRO 21:27

John Gill

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination—That is, to the Lord, as in Pro 15:8; and as it is here added in the Septuagint and Arabic versions;

How much more when he brings it with evil intent—The Arabic version is, “with a mind alien from the law”; or when it is not brought according to law; when it is a corrupt thing, that which is torn, lame, or sick, or robbery for burnt sacrifice; when it is done with an evil intention, to cover sin, to atone for without repenting of it or forsaking it; that they may go on in sin with impunity, and be allowed to commit it; for which cause Balak and Balaam offered sacrifices, which is the instance Jarchi produces; and indeed every religious action not done in faith, and love, and sincerity, and with a view to the glory of God, but in hypocrisy and with selfish views, in order to procure acceptance with God and justification in his sight; setting aside the righteousness, sacrifice, and satisfaction of the Son of God, is done with evil intent, and is an abomination to the Lord. Some render it, “even though he brings it diligently,” or “with great art and skill”; is constant at his devotion, and carries it so artfully, and with such a show of religion, as to deceive men, yet he cannot deceive the Lord.

Rashi

How much more when he brings it with evil intent—How much more when he brings it to be wicked and with evil counsel, such as the sacrifices of Balaam and Balak, who brought them only to curse Israel.

Shevuot 12b:11

The Gemara asks: What are the circumstances of this positive commandment in the mishna? If it is a case where he did not repent, the offering cannot atone for him, as the verse states: “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination” (Pro 21:27). If he did repent, then why is the mishna referring to the Day of Atonement? He will achieve atonement on any other day as well, as it is taught in a baraita: If one transgressed a positive commandment and repented, he does not move from there until he is forgiven.

Zevachim 7b:7

And Rava says: A burnt offering is a gift to God; its essential purpose is not atonement. Rava supports his assertion: What are the circumstances under which a burnt offering atones for violating a positive commandment? If one brings a burnt offering without repentance for his transgression, he may not sacrifice it at all, as “the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination” (Pro 21:27). And if there is repentance, isn’t it taught in a baraita that if one violates a positive commandment and repents, God forgives him before he even moves from his place? If so, why is he required to bring an offering? Rather, conclude from it that a burnt offering is a gift that one brings in order to appease God even after he is forgiven.

He has laid waste his booth like a garden,

laid in ruins his meeting place;

the Lord has made Zion forget

festival and Sabbath,

and in his fierce indignation has spurned king and priest. LAM 2:6

John Gill

He has laid waste his booth like a garden—The house of the sanctuary or temple, as the Targum; which was demolished at once with great force and violence, and as easily done as a tent or tabernacle is taken down; and no more account made of it than of a cottage or lodge in a vineyard or garden, set up while the fruit was, gathering; either to shelter from the heat of the sun in the day, or to lodge in at night; see Isa 1:8;

Laid in ruins his meeting place—The courts where the people used to assemble for worship in the temple; or the synagogues in Jerusalem, and other parts of the land:

The Lord has made Zion forget festival and Sabbath—There being neither places to keep them in, nor people to observe them:

And in his fierce indignation has spurned king and priest—Whose persons and offices were sacred, and ought to be treated by men with honour and respect; but, for the sins of both, the Lord despised them himself, and made them the object of his wrath and indignation, and suffered them to be despised and ill used by others, by the Chaldeans; Zedekiah had his children slain before his eyes, and then they were put out, and he was carried in chains to Babylon, and there detained a captive all his days; and Seraiah the chief priest, or, as the Targum here has it, the high priest, was put to death by the king of Babylon; though not only the persons of the king and priest are meant, but their offices also; the kingdom and priesthood ceased from being exercised for many years.

Rashi

He has laid waste—An expression of cutting, and so (Job 15:33): “He will shake off like the vine”; (Jer 13:22): “your steps were cut off.”

His booth—His habitation. It is written שֻׂכּוֹ to indicate that he lightened his anger against his children with the destruction of his house. So it is expounded in the Midrash of Lamentations (Eichah Rabbah 2:10).

Like a garden—As they cut off the vegetables of a garden.

Laid in ruins his meeting place—The Holy of Holies, where he would meet with his children, as it is stated (Exo 25:22): “And I will meet you there.”

King and priest—King Zedekiah and Seraiah the high priest.

As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord God: Go serve every one of you his idols, now and hereafter, if you will not listen to me; but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts and your idols. EZE 20:39

John Gill

As for you, O house of Israel—The then present house of Israel, and the elders of it, who were upon the spot with the prophet:

Go serve everyone of you his idols—Or dunghill gods; since they liked not to serve the true God: this is not giving them leave to serve idols, or approving their idolatrous practices; but is said “ironically,” as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe, who compare it with Ecc 11:9:

Now and hereafter, if you will not listen to me—Not only serve them now, but for the future; seeing you choose not to listen to my voice, to obey my laws, and to worship me, and me only; for it suggests, that it was better to attend to the service of the one, or of the other, and not halt between two opinions; but either, if the God of Israel was the true God, then serve him, and him only; but if Baal, or any other Gentile deity, was so, then serve them, and keep serving them:

But my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts and your idols—To worship him along with them, and them along with him; to pretend they worshiped him in them, and offered their gifts and sacrifices to him through them; and so made use of his name as a cover to their idolatrous practices: this was a polluting his name, and was abominable to him.

Kiddushin 40a:16

Rabbi Abbahu says in the name of Rabbi Ḥanina: It is preferable for a person to transgress in secret and not to desecrate the name of heaven in public, as it is stated: “As for you, house of Israel, so says the Lord God: Go you, serve everyone his idols, now and hereafter, if you will not listen to me; but my sacred name you shall no more profane” (Eze 20:39).

But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. LUK 11:42

John Gill

But woe to you Pharisees—Though these words, with several other passages in this chapter, are much alike with those in Mat 23 yet it is clear that they were spoken at different times, these in the house of a Pharisee, and they in the temple at Jerusalem:

For you tithe mint and rue—(See Gill on Mat 23:23) the Persic version here reads, “mint and anise,” as there; and the Ethiopic version only “hyssop”:

And every herb—That is, all sorts of herbs that grow in the garden, and were not common to all;

And neglect justice and the love of God—By “justice” may be meant doing that which is right between man and man, both publicly and privately, which was greatly neglected by these extortioners and unjust men: and by “the love of God” may be intended, both love to God, which shows itself in the observance of the first table of the law, and love to the neighbour, which God requires, and regards the second table:

These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others—(See Gill on Mat 23:23).

But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. 1CO 11:17

John Gill

But in the following instructions—The Syriac version reads, “this is what I command”; which some refer to what he had been discoursing of, adding to his arguments, and the examples of the church, his own orders and command, that men should worship God publicly, uncovered, and women covered; though it seems rather to respect what follows, what the apostle was about to declare unto them; concerning which he says,

I do not commend you—As he did in 1Co 11:2 that they were mindful of him, remembered his doctrines, and kept the ordinances in the manner he had delivered them to them: and it should seem by this, that the greater part of them were not to be blamed, though some few were, for their irregular and indecent appearance in public worship, men with a covering on their heads, and women without one; but in what he was about to say, he could not praise them at all:

Because when you come together—To the house of God, to pray unto him, to sing his praises, to hear his word, and attend his ordinances, particularly the Lord’s supper:

Not for the better—For edification and instruction, for the quickening and comforting of your souls; that you may grow in grace and knowledge, become more holy, zealous, fruitful, and useful:

But for the worse—To indulge luxury and intemperance, to encourage heresies, schisms, and divisions, and so grow more carnal, scandalous, and useless.