Bible Reading Blog
“God's Desire”
Categories: Congregational Bible ReadingBIBLE READING: Hosea 6
“For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6.6)
Sacrifices were an important part of the old covenant. They were explicitly given by God (ex. Leviticus 4.2-3) and we see Israel doing them with regularity (Number 28). But sacrifices were never the end goal. They only existed because sin existed. If sin had not occurred, there would be no need for sacrifice.
That’s the point of Hosea 6.6. It’s not that sacrifice didn’t need to occur or that sin didn’t need to be atoned for; it was that Israel wasn’t doing it for God. Scripture often notes that sacrifices to God are incomplete and even offensive without a changed heart that loves and knows the Lord. “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.” (1 Samuel 15.22; See also Isaiah 1.11-17; Amos 5.21-24; Micah 6.6-8 and Matthew 7.21-23)
Jesus would later use Hosea’s teaching against the hypocritical Pharisees, saying, “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9.13). Without a loving relationship with God, all the rituals in the world couldn’t help the Pharisees.
The failed relationship between God and Israel was punctuated by their heartless devotion to sacrifice. There were plenty of sacrifices going on in Israel (Hosea 8.11), but God didn’t want any of them (Hosea 8.13) because they did not serve their purpose.
God’s desire is clear to his people: he wanted to be known (Hosea 1.20). He wanted to be their God and for them to be his people (Hosea 1.23). He wants the same from us today. He doesn’t simply want his people going through the motions of what he said to do. As important as it is for us to be obedient (Romans 1.5; 16.26), we must realize that everything he reveals is intended to push us towards a deeper, more intimate relationship with him (John 17.3).
We must not think adherence to a certain lifestyle or abhorrence of bad things is all God is looking for. Practicing spiritual discipline and self-sacrifice will never produce righteousness or serve to balance to sins we have committed; but it will draw us closer to God. Whatever God has revealed to us is for this purpose.
Without this goal, anything we do puts the focus on my actions and gives way to pride and vanity. Many religious people participate in Christian rituals, yet their hearts do not love God and seek to know Him. May we never be like those whom Jesus described: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Mark 7.6).
