What is the meaning of Isaiah 66:3? Whoever slaughters an ox is like one who slays a man • God had prescribed oxen for sacrifice (Leviticus 1:3-5), yet when hearts are corrupt the act is repulsive to Him. • “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings…? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Samuel 15:22). • Isaiah had already declared, “I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls” when hands are full of bloodshed (Isaiah 1:11-15). • The point: outward religion without inward righteousness equals moral violence. Amos 5:21-24 and Psalm 50:8-14 echo the same warning. whoever sacrifices a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck • A lamb was the standard daily offering (Exodus 29:38-41), but snapping a dog’s neck was an idolatrous, pagan rite (cf. Isaiah 65:4). • God equates their legitimate worship with a detestable act because it comes from polluted motives (Malachi 1:6-8). • Hebrews 10:29 warns how profaning holy things insults the Spirit of grace; Isaiah is sounding the same alarm centuries earlier. whoever presents a grain offering is like one who offers pig’s blood • Grain offerings symbolized thanksgiving and dependence (Leviticus 2:1-16). • Pig’s blood was strictly forbidden (Leviticus 11:7) and associated with uncleanness. • By pairing the two, the Lord says, “Your thanks-giving is as filthy to Me as what I have called unclean” (see also Isaiah 65:4; Mark 7:6-13). whoever offers frankincense is like one who blesses an idol • Frankincense represented prayer rising to God (Exodus 30:34-38; Revelation 8:3-4). • Blessing an idol is blatant apostasy (Jeremiah 44:17). • When people try to mix sincere-sounding devotion with hidden idolatry, God identifies the whole package as idolatry (Hosea 8:11-13; 1 Corinthians 10:19-21). Indeed, they have chosen their own ways and delighted in their abominations • The root problem is willful rebellion: “We all like sheep have gone astray; each one has turned to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6). • Choosing self over God leads to delighting in what He calls abomination (Romans 1:24-25). • Proverbs 14:12 warns that such a path “ends in death,” while Micah 6:8 and Deuteronomy 30:19 point to the alternative—walking humbly in obedience. summary Isaiah 66:3 exposes how religious acts, even those prescribed by God, become abhorrent when hearts are rebellious. Sacrificing an ox, a lamb, presenting grain, or burning frankincense—each act is emptied of value and equated with murder, pagan rites, uncleanness, and idolatry because the people “have chosen their own ways.” God desires obedient, surrendered hearts; without that, worship turns into abomination. |
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