Hosea's most famous verse is, "I desire mercy not sacrifice, acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings." Apparently this people who have strayed far from the ways of God were very religious. They still must have been offering the LORD sacrifices and burnt offerings. The problem was two fold - they were also worshiping other gods - the LORD was just just one god in their polytheistic view of the world - they were also worshiping idols (likenesses of their false gods. Their other issue was how they were treating other people - bloodshed, corruption, etc. The kings were wicked and the prophets and priests were worthless - not teaching the people about God, what He was like, what He required of them. They must have been liberal Jews teaching the people their own fictional beliefs about God.
It is not that God didn't want sacrifices and burnt offering, but made through a lifestyle of mercy (lovingkindness, the Hebrew word, hesed) and acknowledging the one, true, and living God ONLY.
Today, God still wants us rooted in His word - so we know Who He is - what He requires of us - why He loves us so much. God doesn't want our empty perfunctory religious ceremonies lived out of a secular humanistic reliance on self without real regard for Him and our fellow man. God wants us to know Him above all else and to worship Him moment by moment through a lifestyle befitting Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment