The Weightier Matters… | Sunday, October 23, 2022

What makes you think I want all your sacrifices? says the Lord. I am sick of your burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fatted cattle... When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look. Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims. (Isaiah 1:11–15, NLT)

When God refuses His people's worship, the reason is justice—and Deuteronomy shows us why.

The Prophets and the Deuteronomic Principle

Nearly 2,800 years ago the nation of Israel was in horrible shape. A civil war had divided the people into two kingdoms. The northern kingdom, called Israel or sometimes Ephraim, was filled with all manner of idolatry and immorality. The southern kingdom, called Judah, was perhaps not quite as bad, but it was well down the same path of decline.

It is under those conditions that we are introduced to the prophets. In the older historical books they were called seers, because they had the foresight to see the future implications of present conditions. When we think of prophets, we often think of someone who interprets dreams or sees visions—revealers of secret things. In some cases that is true. But the prophets were also wise in the Scriptures and experts in the law, specifically the book of Deuteronomy.

They were students of the law of Moses, and they understood the conditional nature of the Torah—what has been called the deuteronomic principle. As Moses lays it out, obedience to God's commands brings blessing, and disobedience results in curses, destruction, even exile from the Promised Land. It is an "if this, then that" arrangement: if obedience, then blessing; if disobedience, then cursing. We will see this clearly when we reach Deuteronomy chapter 28.

So while some prophets—Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah—did see visions of far-future events, more often the prophets saw the present actions of their leaders and countrymen and mapped out the obvious outcomes in light of God's command.

Isaiah's Shocking Message

More than 600 years after Moses, a young man named Isaiah began to prophesy in Jerusalem, capital of Judah. There stood the great temple Solomon had built and dedicated about 300 years before. Day after day the people sacrificed and worshiped there with great importunity. And under the shadow of that temple, in that holy city, this zealous young Isaiah proclaimed that Jerusalem had become like Sodom and Gomorrah—two cities destroyed by God for their wickedness.

Imagine how that message was received. Standing in the shadow of the temple, Isaiah declared God's word: Judah, you are so filled with sin that God no longer wants your sacrifices, your offerings, or your worship. In effect, God was saying your praises are nothing more than lip service. As He says later in the book, "You worship me with your lips, but your hearts are far from me."

God said, in effect: Yes, I gave you the command to offer sacrifices in Leviticus, but I am sick of them. Yes, I told you to observe the feasts and the Sabbaths, but they have become meaningless rituals I now hate. And as a result, I will no longer listen to your prayers. That is a heavy message. What could cause God to respond this way toward His own people?

The Sin of Injustice

Isaiah gives the answer in verse 15: "Your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims." Now theologically there are no truly innocent victims—all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God; we have all turned, every one, to our own way. Yet what was Judah's great sin?

Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean... cease to do evil, learn to do good. Seek justice, rebuke the oppressor, defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. (Isaiah 1:16–17)

The innocent victims were the disadvantaged of Judah—the oppressed, the fatherless, the widow. Judah's primary wickedness was not idolatry or immorality, though those were problems. It was the evil of injustice: injustice toward the poor, the overlooked, and those who had no one to advocate for them.

This sentiment is not unique to Isaiah. The psalmist prays in Psalm 94: "How long will the wicked triumph?... They break in pieces your people, O Lord... They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless." There again are the groups: the poor, the stranger, the fatherless, the widow. Isaiah highlights them once more in chapter 10: "Woe to those who declare unrighteous decrees... to rob the needy of justice... that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless." The word woe can carry the meaning that destruction is certain—certain for those who rob the needy of justice, especially those who have no one to advocate for them.

Looking Back to Deuteronomy 24

Remember that the prophets were experts in the law who challenged the status quo by the ancient law of Moses. Isaiah saw his people mistreating the oppressed and called them to task because he remembered God's word in Deuteronomy 24.

You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy... You shall not pervert justice due the stranger or the fatherless, nor take a widow's garment as a pledge. (Deuteronomy 24:14, 17)

In ancient Israel these were the often-overlooked, mistreated groups—the disadvantaged minorities: the slave, the poor, the orphan, the widow, and the stranger or foreigner. God says, "I will not hold you guiltless if you mistreat these." According to God, justice and mercy are the weightier matters of His law.

Jesus uses that same word in Matthew 23: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone." Notice Jesus does not say tithes and offerings are unimportant. But you can be scrupulously religious—attending church, tithing, serving, praying, fasting, even memorizing large sections of Scripture—and still be judged a hypocrite if you are not merciful, kind, faithful, and just in how you treat people, especially those at the bottom of society.

Why Society Always Stratifies

You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether one of your brethren or one of the aliens... Each day you shall give him his wages... lest he cry out against you to the Lord, and it be sin to you. (Deuteronomy 24:14–15)

Like it or not, every society stratifies. There are always the haves at the top and the have-nots at the bottom, with all manner of people in between. Unfortunately, some always stack up at the bottom, and they are often the ones overlooked, oppressed, and taken advantage of. This is because we are by nature sinful, sinfully selfish, and we live in a broken world—and far too few people higher up plead the cause of those below them.

This stratification is, I believe, impossible to avoid. Every culture and people group, now and throughout history, stratifies in some way. We might like the utopian idea of a completely level playing field with equal distribution for all, but that is not the world we live in—and it does not appear to be how the world to come will be either. The Bible reveals varying distributions of reward and responsibility in the kingdom of God as well.

Yet even with unequal distributions, biblically we are all created with equal dignity, value, and intrinsic worth. Every human being is born with equal worth—but we are not all born with equal gifts, abilities, talents, or opportunities. As a result, society will always stratify, and knowing this, we can choose to either mitigate or exaggerate the bad outcomes of unjust distributions.

Deuteronomy, Not Marxism

Now, as soon as a Christian pastor speaks like this in the United States in 2022, there is an aversion among the very people I am addressing—largely American Protestant Christians. The thought arises: "Pastor, this sounds like equity. This sounds like Marxism."

If that thought crosses your mind, I want to say two things. First, Moses predated Marx by 3,200 years. Second, if we are going to be true followers of Christ, we must consistently evaluate and re-evaluate our worldview by the plumb line of Scripture. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3). The Word is a plumb line that shows what is right and true and exposes the areas of our lives, philosophies, and worldviews that are out of alignment.

With that in mind, Moses presents an important truth: how you deal with those you employ or manage is important to God. Whether they are your countrymen or foreigners makes no difference to Him. It is unrighteous and punishment-worthy to abuse, oppress, or disadvantage those below you. And remember—even if you are at the top, you always have a Master in heaven to whom you will give an account. We find the same in the New Testament: "Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven" (Colossians 4).

Four Vulnerable Groups

You shall not pervert justice due the stranger or the fatherless, nor take a widow's garment as a pledge. (Deuteronomy 24:17)

Moses names four classifications we must defend: the poor (v. 14), the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow. These were the lowest of the low in ancient Israel. As one pastor and author writes, "In the pre-modern agrarian societies, these four groups had no social power. They lived at a subsistence level and were only days away from starvation if there was any famine, invasion, or even minor social unrest."

These are the vulnerable outcasts—then and now. Every culture has them, even if they are not the same group of people. They have no one to intercede or stand in the gap, often no legal protection, and no financial power to uphold their cause if something closes in to crush them. Yet God would have it be different among His people, who execute justice for the oppressed.

The psalmist declares that the Lord gives food to the hungry, frees the prisoner, watches over the strangers, and relieves the fatherless and the widow. If that is what God is like, then His people must defend the cause of the poor, the overlooked, and the oppressed. We saw this earlier in Deuteronomy 10: "The great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality... administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt."

Remember Where You Came From

But you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this thing. (Deuteronomy 24:18)

God says: Don't forget where you came from. You were the lowest of the low in Egypt—the disadvantaged, the overlooked, the oppressed—and I alone was your advocate. I redeemed you, and I expect you to be to others as I was to you.

The prophet Zechariah uses the same lens: "Execute true justice, show mercy and compassion everyone to his brother. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor" (Zechariah 7). The underprivileged may not be the same exact four groups in America in 2022 as they were in Israel 3,400 years ago, but we still have people at the bottom of the stack. And if we do not observe the principles of justice, mercy, and compassion toward them, we will reap the consequences of our sinful actions or inactions. The deuteronomic principle still applies: a society that does not execute justice and show mercy will destabilize and fall apart. We are watching some of that happen in our own day.

Leaving the Gleanings

When you reap your harvest in your field, and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow... (Deuteronomy 24:19–21)

God commanded that His people leave the gleanings—not gathering a second time over the olive trees or the vineyard—so the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow could be provided for. God is the great Giver to those in need, and He commands His people to be as He is in their giving.

And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this thing. (Deuteronomy 24:22)

God keeps saying: remember. Remember that you were without hope, without an advocate, without anyone to stand in the gap as your mediator. More than 600 years later, when Israel was blessed and secure in the land, they became forgetful. That is often what happens to us—in dire straits we care for others, but when we become fat and happy and comfortable, we forget.

When the people forgot in Isaiah's day, they no longer defended the fatherless, pleaded for the widow, rebuked the oppressor, or extended mercy. So God raised up Isaiah to call them back. They were still attending the temple, still offering sacrifices, still keeping the feasts and Sabbaths and prayers—and God said, "Away with all of it. I don't want any of it unless you reform your ways. If you don't, I will remove you from the land."

Come, Let Us Reason Together

Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow... If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword. (Isaiah 1:18–20)

Those words were hard for Judah to hear. Some turned a deaf ear to Isaiah as they climbed to the temple; some mocked him; perhaps some even spat upon him. It isn't easy for us to receive correction either. But we must, from time to time, evaluate our worldview, our philosophy, and our culture through the lens of God's Word.

Do we defend the cause of these oppressed groups—the refugee, the foreigner, the alien in our midst? Do we plead on behalf of the poor and challenge the thinking that gives still more power and wealth to those who have the most? Or do we say, "That sounds like Marxism"? It's not Marxism—it's Deuteronomy. It's God's law.

God would say: Come now, let us reason together. Remember that you were dead in your trespasses and sins, walking according to the course of this world, following the lusts of your flesh, without hope. "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love," redeemed and rescued you "that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace... For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works." Remember that you were a slave to sin in the proverbial Egypt, and God rescued you. Now have the same mercy, grace, and compassion for those who find themselves in that place today.

Communion: Remembering His Mercy

That is exactly what we do at communion—we remember. On the night He was betrayed, the night before He was crucified by His own people, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of Me." So we partake to remember His body broken for us, when we had no mediator and no advocate—He stood in the gap for us.

In the same manner He took the cup and said, "This is the blood of the new covenant, My blood which is shed for many for the remission of sins." He who was rich became poor for our sakes, that through His poverty we might become rich—and He did it all because of His grace, His mercy, His love. So we remember: we were dead in trespasses and sins, and His blood was shed to rescue and save us.

Closing Prayer

Father God, we thank You so much for Your grace and Your mercy. We thank You for this tangible way to remember what You have done for us. As we remember Your grace, mercy, and compassion for us on the cross, I pray we would be stirred to have the same kind of mercy, grace, and compassion for others. It is easy for us to overlook those who are below us, yet You want us to extend Your love and grace to them—sometimes tangibly, to meet their need, and also spiritually, by bringing them the gospel.

Stir our hearts as we remember what You have done for us, that we would be moved to compassion for those below us. Just as You judged those who would not defend the cause of the fatherless, the widow, the foreigner, and the poor in Isaiah's day, help us to be those who are willing and ready to give even a cup of cold water to the thirsty. For as You said in Matthew 25, insofar as we have done this for the least of these, we have done so for You. You have shown us what is good and what You require of us—to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before You. Help us to do that, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen.