Fatherless Commentary

I was doing a bible study on the Fatherless. I found that passages on the fatherless start in Deuteronomy and continue through the Minor Prophets. All three of the Major Prophets (Is, Jer, & Ez) have a few verses on it. When a verse mentions the fatherless, it always mentions at least one or two of the following: the widowed, the oppressed, and the alien. I consider Isaiah 1:17 to be the central verse about these stereotypes. I want to focus on the fatherless just for today. Here are eight verses:
Isaiah 1:10-17
Listen to the Lord, you leaders of Israel! Listen to the law of our God, people of Israel. You act just like the rulers and people of Sodom and Gomorrah.
[11] "I am sick of your sacrifices," says the Lord. "Don't bring me any more burnt offerings! I don't want the fat from your rams or other animals. I don't want to see the blood from your offerings of bulls and rams and goats.
[12] Why do you keep parading through my courts with your worthless sacrifices?
[13] The incense you bring me is a stench in my nostrils! Your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath day, and your special days for fasting—even your most pious meetings—are all sinful and false. I want nothing more to do with them.
[14] I hate all your festivals and sacrifices. I cannot stand the sight of them!
[15] From now on, when you lift up your hands in prayer, I will refuse to look. Even though you offer many prayers, I will not listen. For your hands are covered with the blood of your innocent victims.
[16] Wash yourselves and be clean! Let me no longer see your evil deeds. Give up your wicked ways.
[17] Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the [fatherless]. Fight for the rights of widows.
This is deep, and I have to cut a lot of stuff out. Sorry about that, but you don't want a whole exegesis on your hands and I don't have the patience or time.The reason why Israel is sacrificing so much is because they sin a lot. God doesn't like it because he the sacrifices are not changing them. There is no repentance involved, the way it was meant to be. Therefore they offer useless sacrifices. This is symbolic also. Their sacrifices are a symbol of the innocent; they sacrifice them, but since there is no repentance makes them irrelevant the blood of the innocent ram is on their hands. Same with the innocent public. They sacrifice the lives of innocent people (probably the fatherless, widowed, alien, and oppressed, or just even the remnant), to keep their consciences clear, and make their lives comfortable. They put them down to make themselves feel better. All this ritual is nothing with out a true turning away from evil to do good. True righteousness is to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the [fatherless]. Fight for the rights of widows. God cannot accept them if they are doing the opposite or are doing nothing. The ritual is just a façade. God wants the real thing. There is nothing wrong with the ritual. It's the heart and the things on the side that are bad.
More about the fatherless to come.