God rebukes the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem. He calls them leaders of Sodom and people of Gomorrah, the two wicked cities he wiped out in Genesis 19. They had kept worshipping God through rituals, even though their hearts had long since lost any relationship with him and had grown distant from God. Or put another way, they were pursuing a God-given vision but had abandoned the values that went with it. As a result, they became empty and were nothing more than the shell of a leader.
God calls out superficial behavior. Leaders can go on convincingly following a vision for quite some time, even though inwardly they abandoned it long ago. But God does not want leaders who simply go through the motions. Leaders only unfold their full strength when ...
- ... their vision and their values match.
- ... their words and their lifestyle match.
- ... their behavior and their attitude match.
- ... their image and their integrity match.
- ... their promises and their performance match.
- ... their strategy and their support match.
Isaiah 1:10-17
True and false worship
10 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.