Does God Hate Our Holidays? | Isaiah 1:10-17

Let's Keep the Holidays Holy

Welcome to Gateways, where you experience the Nevi'im—the Prophets—through the teachings of Don Yitzchak Abarbanel, distilled into easy-to-follow lessons.

Today’s lesson is the second part of Isaiah’s opening rebuke of the Jewish people, chapter 1, verses 10-17. For the first part, see The Vision of Isaiah.

I’ll include the a short overview, the verses, Abarbanel’s questions and his answers. I’ll conclude with a short takeaway of my own. I hope you’ll share yours.

My additions here are in italics. I've used bold to highlight key ideas and make the content easier to follow.

Jeff

Overview

This is the second part of the opening prophecy. In it, Isaiah continues to tear into the Jewish people for their lack of sincere service. During the First Temple, people focused more on the action—bringing a sacrifice—than on the worship behind it.

For background: Sedom and Amora are the cities God destroyed in Genesis for their extreme corruption and wickedness, Genesis 18–19.

Isaiah expresses God’s disgust at the people’s observance of the holidays, which is where Abarbanel directs his questions.

This section closes with a plea for the Jewish people to improve, to seek justice, judge the case of the orphan, fight for the widow.

I highly encourage you to read the verses slowly. Try to experience them Imagine you’re listening to Isaiah actually deliver them, perhaps in the city square. If you feel like you could use some help with poetry, read my short essay The Poetry of Prayer. Or just read Psalm 19 while watching the sun rise; or Psalm 8 on a starry night.

Verses

10. Listen to the word of the Lord, you officers of Sedom;

    Hear the teachings of our God, you townsmen of Amora.

11. Why, says the Lord, would I want all these offering?
    I’m sated with burnt offerings, with rams and fleshy creatures’ fat.
    The blood of bulls and sheep and goats—I do not want them.

12. You come, appear before Me.
    Who asked this of you?
    Who asked you for all of this—trampling my courtyards?

13. Bring no more your empty gifts—they are foul incense to Me;
    New Moon and Sabbath, the feast days you proclaim—
    I cannot endure these sins and assemblies.

14. Your New Moons and festivals, how I hate them;
    they have become a burden to me.
    I am weary, I cannot bear them.

15. When you spread your hands skyward, I turn My eyes away.
    When you keep praying, I’m not listening.
    Your hands are covered in blood.

16. Wash them, be clean now, remove your terrible deeds from My Sight;
    Stop bringing about such evils.

17. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Correct what is cruel.
    Rule justice for the orphans; fight the widows’ cause.

Questions

About the verse: “Your New Moons and festivals, how I hate them; they have become a burden to me. I am weary, I cannot bear them.”

But the festivals and new months were commanded by the Torah! It says: “These are the appointed festivals of the Lord, sacred assemblies…”

So how could it say that His soul hated them?

And if you say it was because of the people's many sins—then it still shouldn't say that He hated the festivals and new months, but rather that He hated their evil deeds.

And it’s also difficult: Why did it only mention your new months and your festivals and not also your Sabbaths? The Sabbaths were mentioned in the previous verse, why not in this one also?

Answer

“Your New Moons and festivals…”

Because they would gather on the festival days that they themselves made, for the service of the foreign gods that they worshiped, therefore Isaiah said the new moons and the appointed times that you make for yourselves.

Those I have hated…they have been a burden upon Me, and I have grown weary of bearing them.

And He did not mention the Sabbath, because idol worshipers did not make the Sabbath on their own, but rather only festivals and new moons.

After answering both questions, Abarbanel now offers a different approach.

And it is also possible to explain that He hated the festivals and new moons that the Torah mentioned, that they were doing—because all of them were for eating to fullness… and they did not mention God or serve Him at all.

For even while they were idle on those days, and eating and drinking wine, they would strike one another with stone or with fist. And it was as if those days, which were holy in themselves, would in their deeds become causes of sins and crimes, and they became brokers of transgression. And therefore He said that His soul hated them. And with this, the fifth question has been resolved.

In summary, Abarbanel offers two answers:

1. The people were idolatrous, and celebrated idolatrous practices. That’s why God hated those holidays. They didn’t celebrate the Sabbath, which would only be kept by people trying to recognize God’s divinity.

2. The people “kept” the law of the festivals, but did so only to eat and drink and ended up fighting. They didn’t worship God in any meaningful way.

According to this second answer, it’s not clear why “Sabbaths” were not also mentioned. Perhaps because on the Shabbat, just stopping work indicates that one recognizes God who also stopped working after seven days. But on the festivals, where some types of work are permitted, they day is only imbued with holiness if people make an effort to dedicate themselves to God.

Takeaway

There’s a pretty obvious lesson to learn from this: make the holidays a time to focus on and celebrate God. That goes for during the holiday and the lead up to it.

How often do we complain about the amount of work needed to get ready for Passover? Or how expensive are all the preparations for the fall holidays?

We need to take a step back and remember why we’re doing and observing what we do and approach each holiday as a special destination, event, and opportunity to connect with God.