Isa 1:11 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.

The problem here apparently, was a lack of sincerity behind the action of sacrifices to the Lord, which made the effort meaningless and repetitive. These people were basically on autopilot, and just going through the motions required by all of the laws above, but their hearts weren’t in it, and basically did it because it was a requirement, and not a desire they themselves had out of love and devotion to God.

It’s like when we do something for someone out of a feeling of obligation, or piety, or because we feel that “as Christians” we have to submit ourselves to every whim and need of others because it’s the “Christian thing to do.” It’s that “deny yourself” syndrome taken to the extreme, but there has to be boundaries, because God calls for us to walk with balance.

When we fail to establish boundaries in our lives to accommodate our own individual needs and families, but make ourselves readily available to everyone out of guilt, or due to manipulation, then our actions are equally as hollow and filled with resentment, and this was God’s complaint.

He had established clear boundaries and regulations on how this thing was to be handled, and the attitude and motivation for it. Yet what He was getting were people whose heart wasn’t in it, and who actually resented having to do this.

So they went about this task with guilt as their motivation because they didn’t really love God with all their hearts. They felt they were being sacrificial, because they really didn’t want to do it, but did it anyways.

This is what some Christians do…this is the attitude of “Christian service,” a lot of the time, and a person who does this actually ends up hurting people more than if they were to just be honest and say that they cannot commit their time to the situation they are being approached with.

This excessively sacrificial pretense ends up hurting people because eventually, that hidden resentment is going to come out, and the “sacrificial lamb” will turn out to be the person perceived to be imposing, and not the one being imposed upon, despite their feeling of always being put upon.

If your heart isn’t in it, then learn to just say no. It’s more hurtful if you make a pretense at caring and the person finds out that you really don’t, verses just being up front about how you really feel.

God is saying here that all these alleged great (acts) of sacrifice are meaningless, because they aren’t really into it. So in turn, God takes no delight in any of their “forced” actions, not because He forced them, but because they forced themselves into doing it with no heart behind it for all the wrong reasons, making the act empty and devoid of meaning.

Isa 1:11 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.

 When God says, “I am full…” the reference is to be weary of. In other words, I am sick and tired of this.

In referencing this, I noticed the fact that God specifies the sacrifices here, which, if not for a significant reason, would be pointless, because He could have just as well said “animals.”

Naturally then, I had to check these animals out, because this is worded this way for a reason, and not to say that I’ve discovered the particular reason; but rather, I want to point out something I’ve noticed.

One of the meanings of “ram” is tabernacle. It also represents a “strong man, leader or chief” and a “mighty tree, or terebinth,” as well as a “pillar, door post, jambs, and pilaster.”

I also looked up fat which signifies the “choicest, best part, abundance (of products of the land).”

Furthermore, the “fed beasts” represent cattle, and a bullock – a young bull. A lamb represents a “lamb, sheep or young ram.”  The he-goats mentioned signify “ram, he-goat, chief one.”

What I noticed is this. Despite the fact that Eve was the one deceived initially, the responsibility lay with Adam because he partook of that deception after having received direct instructions from God. It was Adam that was given the command concerning the garden after both were given dominion.

When Eve was deceived and sinned, that did not make all of mankind guilty. In fact, their eyes didn’t officially become “opened” until after Adam, who was “with” her, partook of that apple and fulfilled or completed the deception. Check the wording in that chapter and you will see this is true.

Therefore, all of man-kind was cursed and fell. It took one man’s sin, and one man’s sacrifice to right the wrong. Likewise, I’m seeing that in the ritual of sacrifice, it is a male beast, whether a ram, he goat, sheep, lamb or cattle, seems to be used predominantly.