The sacrifices and offerings commanded to Israel of old were all intended to set before the people the work of Jesus Christ, "the Lamb of God which bears away the sin of the world." (John 1:29)
When Israel failed to see Christ in their sacrificial offerings, these were of no avail, and were no better than the sacrifices of the heathen. God did not regard them as offerings rendered unto himself, but as worship given to some false god who only existed in the perverted imaginations of the people.
Thus it was possible for Israel to be guilty of idolatry, even while nominally worshiping Jehovah. "Did you bring unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel. Yea, you have borne Moloch [margin] and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which you made to yourselves." (Amos 5:25-26)
The worship of Jehovah did not, like that of Moloch, call for the purposeless shedding of blood, but when Israel overlooked the teaching of their sin offerings, the blood was shed without avail, and the fact that this wholesale taking of life was done in the name of Jehovah rendered it no more acceptable in His sight than were the awful sacrifices by which Moloch was worshiped. "You have not called upon me, O Jacob, but you have been weary of me, O Israel. You have not brought me the small cattle of your burnt offerings; neither have you honored me with your sacrifices ... but you have made me to serve with your sins, you have wearied me with your iniquities." (Isaiah 43:22-24)
Christ, bearing the sins of the whole world, is not a manifestation of God for three and a half years merely, but for the whole period of earthly history. God has taken upon himself to sustain the life of all His creatures, to provide them with life and breath and all things.
He places His life at their disposal and gives them a free choice as to what they will do with it. Not one thought or word or act ever came into existence, which was not rendered possible by God in supplying, the necessary power. Not a sin could be committed if it were not that God given life and strength to sinful men.
It is no burden to the Lord to maintain in perfect health and soundness the whole of His vast creation. "The God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth faints not, neither is weary." (Isaiah 40:26)
But although it is no drain on the Lord to supply men with all the life they need, and more than they can use, it does weary Him to have His life used for purposes of sin. This is so foreign to His inclinations that it distresses Him beyond our comprehension. "You have made me to serve with your sins, you have wearied me with your iniquities. I, even I, am He that blots out your transgressions for my own sake." (Isaiah 43:24-25)
The Lord is more anxious than men are to make an end of sin. It wearies Him more than it does them. Therefore, for His own sake He blots it out. No one need fear that the Lord will not forgive his sins because they are too great. If he is weary of them, the Lord is much more so, and for His own sake He blots them out.
Since every soul on earth is a sinner, and all live by the Lord's life, it is evident that it is the Lord himself who bears the whole burden of sin. Multitudes are not conscious of any burden themselves, but the Lord bears the burden of all, and whether they feel it or not, it wearies Him. Therefore it is true of the whole world that, for His own sake, God has blotted out their transgressions. He commits to His servants the ministry of reconciliation: "To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; ... For He has made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:19,21)
But there are some who have sinned more deeply than the heathen. There are those who, knowing their Lord's will, have not done it. The Lord speaks to such a class in the first chapter of Isaiah, who offer a multitude of sacrifices and make many prayers, yet whose hands are red with the blood of souls, lost by their unfaithfulness. These have a form of godliness, but lack the power of it.
Like the Pharisees of old, they make a fair show outwardly, but inwardly they are full of sin and uncleanness. The Lord is wearied enough when the heathen make Him to serve with their sins, but those are infinitely worse than the heathen, for not only do they pervert God's life into the commission of the same sins, but they further make Him to serve, in that which is most detestable of all to Him, the sin of hypocrisy.
Surely we would think, the Lord must hate those who burden His life with that which is so repugnant to every instinct of His being, even using the strength He gives to lead astray and destroy other souls. He says, "Your appointed feasts my soul hates: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them." (Isaiah 1:14)
But, since the underhanded sin of professed Christians, using God's life not only for their evil-doing, but also for the attempt to make it appear righteousness, is worse than the open sin of the heathen, the burden upon Him must be so much the heavier, and therefore His desire to get rid of the wearying burden must be so much the greater. More emphatically to them than to any others, comes the word, "I, even I, am He that blots out your transgressions for my own sake." (Isaiah 43:25)
Because the silver is become dross, "Your princes are rebellious and companions of thieves," (Isaiah 1:23) everyone seeking his own gain and oppressing the helpless, "Therefore, says the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the mighty Oneof Israel, Ah, I will ease me of my adversaries, and avenge me of my enemies." (Isaiah 1:24)
God will blot out the sins that weary and burden Him, so that the greatest sinner need not be discouraged. Although we have added hypocrisy to guilt, if we will let the Lord deal with our sins, He will gladly and promptly attend to their removal, and the heavier they are, the more assurance we have that God, for His own sake, will blot them out of remembrance. "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." (Romans 5:20) "God is light and in Him is no darkness at all." (1 John 1:5)
The sinful soul need not fear to find clouds of discouragement if he turns to the Lord, for the penitent will find in Him no darkness at all. "His going forth is prepared as the morning;" (Hosea 6:3) and He sets His people in a path that: "Shines more and more unto the perfect day.--Present Truth, February 9, 1899--Timeline: II-4 (Jesus Declared "The Lamb of God")--John 1:29.