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“Let Us Set Matters Straight”Isaiah’s Prophecy—Light for All Mankind I
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5. What are some of the acts of worship performed by the Jews, and why have these become “a burden” to Jehovah?
5 No wonder that Jehovah now adopts even stronger language! “Stop bringing in any more valueless grain offerings. Incense—it is something detestable to me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of a convention—I cannot put up with the use of uncanny power along with the solemn assembly.
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“Let Us Set Matters Straight”Isaiah’s Prophecy—Light for All Mankind I
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Grain offerings, incense, Sabbaths, and solemn assemblies are all part of God’s Law to Israel. As to “new moons,” the Law simply directs that these be observed, but wholesome traditions have gradually grown up around the observance. (Numbers 10:10; 28:11) The new moon is treated as a monthly sabbath, when the people would desist from work and even gather for instruction from the prophets and priests. (2 Kings 4:23; Ezekiel 46:3; Amos 8:5) Such observances are not wrong. The problem lies in doing them for mere show. Moreover, the Jews are resorting to “uncanny power,” spiritistic practices, right along with their formal observance of God’s Law.b
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“Let Us Set Matters Straight”Isaiah’s Prophecy—Light for All Mankind I
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b The Hebrew word for “uncanny power” is also rendered “what is hurtful,” “what is uncanny,” and “erroneous.” According to the Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, Hebrew prophets used the word to denounce “evil caused by the misuse of power.”
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