Isaiah 1:10,11 - Hear the word of the Lord

1:10

So Israel has now been prepared to hear the word of the Lord, and God had done this by making clear what a mess they were in. God did the same by sending John the Baptist to prepare the way for Jesus, he did so by calling the people to repentance. This calls into sharp question the modern habit of preparing the way by telling people how wonderful they are! So this verse tells the people that they are like Sodom and Gomorrah, certainly no better than them. Sodom and Gomorrah suffered complete destruction, so if Judah has any sense at all she will pay heed to God’s ways. Yet again, this is in contrast with the practice of many churches, even some evangelical ones, of affirming people in their sinful lifestyles.

1:11

The people brought many sacrifices to God, thinking that this would appease Him, or guarantee His favour upon them. Now we need to be aware of two key influences. The first and foremost is that the Law required sacrifices, so in one sense at least it was perfectly reasonable for the Israelites to think that the offering of sacrifices would put them on the right side of God. But there was also a second influence, and that was the practices of the surrounding nations. For they too had sacrifices, but the thinking behind these sacrifices was that offering them saved the gods the need to provide for themselves. So it is possible that Israel had become infected with these ideas and thought in offering the sacrifices they were doing God a favour. This could explain some of the references we find here and elsewhere in the Old Testament to God not needing the sacrifices. But there was also a misunderstanding of the purpose of the Levitical sacrifices, ie the ones actually demanded by the Law. These sacrifices were not the end in themselves, they did not actually absolve anyone of sin in themselves. Rather, they pointed forward to the true sacrifice that would truly cleanse people of their sins.