•9:22 PM
"I want you to be merciful; I don't want your sacrifices. I want you to know God; that's more important than burnt offerings."- Hosea 6:6
There it is. Straight from God's own "mouth". This is what He wants. Doesn't seem very difficult when you really look at it. How in the world do we take something seemingly so simple and make it harder than it should be? It's because we let "self" get in the way of it.
The preceding verses give what is believed to be a model prayer for the people of Israel. They say, "1Come, let us return to the LORD! He has torn us in pieces; now he will heal us. He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds. 2In just a short time, he will restore us so we can live in his presence. 3Oh , that we might know the LORD! Let us press on to know him! Then he will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring" in verses 1-3 of chapter 6. The people of Israel appear to realize what they have done. They recognize the sin they have committed and the judgment that has come upon them because of this sin. They even recognize that in drawing closer to Him they will be "healed". What strikes me in this is the latter part of verse 3. They seem so sure that if they do this then God will respond. This comes across a little arrogant.
They just knew that this punishment would not last long if they just give God what He wanted. How arrogant of them. Let's just do this so we can get the punishment stopped. This is not what God wanted. He wanted a true heart change. He wanted them, not just their actions.
The burnt offerings and sacrifices were meaningless without the relationship with Him. They were meaningless without the love and mercy that is shown through someones life that has that relationship with God. They missed the point. Their repentance should have been based on a response to the God they worshiped and not to the simple fact that it would end the punishment.
God sees through this charade. He says in verse 4, "'Oh Israel and Judah, what should I do with you?' asks the Lord. 'For your love vanishes like the morning mist and disappears like dew in the sunlight.'" He knew their hearts. He knew how fleeting this repentance would be. Just as the morning mist or dew is evaporated and disappears so would this so called "change of heart". God sent warnings of the impending doom. His prophets proclaimed this message (v. 5) and the only response is one of arrogance and a false sense of security.
God saw the atrocities being committed by the priests. The people who were supposed to be the spiritual leaders of this nation. The people were robbing travelers and the priests were murdering. They were defiled by the "chasing after other gods." This went completely against God's Law. This went against what He wanted for His people. He wanted mercy! He wanted devotion to Him. They gave Him the opposite and then tried to give lip service when He punished them. Regardless of this meaningless cry of repentance, punishment was coming. God knew He had to draw the line here. He stated in verse 5, "My judgement will strike you as surely as day follows night." His justice is right and sure.
Let's not miss the point of what God want from us. He wants a personal relationship with us. In this relationship our hearts can and will be changed to exhibit to this world the mercy and love that only comes from knowing the Father in heaven. This is where the Israelites slipped up. They wanted forgiveness without any true change taking place on their part but in a true relationship with God there is always change.
There it is. Straight from God's own "mouth". This is what He wants. Doesn't seem very difficult when you really look at it. How in the world do we take something seemingly so simple and make it harder than it should be? It's because we let "self" get in the way of it.
The preceding verses give what is believed to be a model prayer for the people of Israel. They say, "1Come, let us return to the LORD! He has torn us in pieces; now he will heal us. He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds. 2In just a short time, he will restore us so we can live in his presence. 3Oh , that we might know the LORD! Let us press on to know him! Then he will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring" in verses 1-3 of chapter 6. The people of Israel appear to realize what they have done. They recognize the sin they have committed and the judgment that has come upon them because of this sin. They even recognize that in drawing closer to Him they will be "healed". What strikes me in this is the latter part of verse 3. They seem so sure that if they do this then God will respond. This comes across a little arrogant.
They just knew that this punishment would not last long if they just give God what He wanted. How arrogant of them. Let's just do this so we can get the punishment stopped. This is not what God wanted. He wanted a true heart change. He wanted them, not just their actions.
The burnt offerings and sacrifices were meaningless without the relationship with Him. They were meaningless without the love and mercy that is shown through someones life that has that relationship with God. They missed the point. Their repentance should have been based on a response to the God they worshiped and not to the simple fact that it would end the punishment.
God sees through this charade. He says in verse 4, "'Oh Israel and Judah, what should I do with you?' asks the Lord. 'For your love vanishes like the morning mist and disappears like dew in the sunlight.'" He knew their hearts. He knew how fleeting this repentance would be. Just as the morning mist or dew is evaporated and disappears so would this so called "change of heart". God sent warnings of the impending doom. His prophets proclaimed this message (v. 5) and the only response is one of arrogance and a false sense of security.
God saw the atrocities being committed by the priests. The people who were supposed to be the spiritual leaders of this nation. The people were robbing travelers and the priests were murdering. They were defiled by the "chasing after other gods." This went completely against God's Law. This went against what He wanted for His people. He wanted mercy! He wanted devotion to Him. They gave Him the opposite and then tried to give lip service when He punished them. Regardless of this meaningless cry of repentance, punishment was coming. God knew He had to draw the line here. He stated in verse 5, "My judgement will strike you as surely as day follows night." His justice is right and sure.
Let's not miss the point of what God want from us. He wants a personal relationship with us. In this relationship our hearts can and will be changed to exhibit to this world the mercy and love that only comes from knowing the Father in heaven. This is where the Israelites slipped up. They wanted forgiveness without any true change taking place on their part but in a true relationship with God there is always change.
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