At the time this was given Assyria was threatening the nation. Jerusalem had not been taken, and indeed Assyria would fail to do so, but they were encroaching on the rest of the country. The place was in a desolate state.
"Hear the word of the Lord you rulers of Sodom, ..., you people of Gomorrah!" Well that is not a nice way to speak to them. Remember Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire and brimstone for their sins against God. God calls on them to listen to Him.
What can we do? I know offer more sacrifices! Well that would not work, God had had enough of their sacrifices. Their various religious festivals were meaningless to God. We need to take care that our "religion" does not become meaningless. We might be very pleased with ourselves, but what matter is "is God pleased with us?".
God was utterly fed up with their worship services and had resolved not to listen to their prayers. Why was God acting like this? Because their hands were full of blood. They were guilty of bloodshed.
The quality of our lives matters to God. As we have been reading in James, faith without actions is dead.
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