What Do These Verses Mean To You?

[ChristineES]

Hosea 6:6 For I desired mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Mat 9:13 But go and learn what this is, I will have mercy and not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Mat 12:7 But if you had known what this is, "I desire mercy and not sacrifice," you would not have condemned those who are not guilty.

I am interested in people's opinions about these verses.

What did Hosea mean by the verse? What did Jesus mean when he quoted it to His followers? Is the meaning changed if it is taken out of context?

Does anyone take it that God is more interested in our showing mercy to others rather than anything else we can give to Him?

 

[heksesang]

God doesn't care about sacrifices. If you screw up, it doesn't help him anything if you burn animals for him or whatever. However, what does help if you just realize your mistake and learn from it.

That's how I see it. But then again I also believe much of the sacrificial stuff has its origin in the pagan religions, and the jews just failed to not adopt the ways of those religions.
God is a lot more sophisticated than we have ever been, so I cannot imagine he would turn to the same methods as primitive humans, such as payment by blood etc.

 

[Nadia Faiazova]

Jesus and Hosea meant that our Heavenly Father desires us to have mercy on others, just as we wish Him to have mercy on ourselves. We need his forgiveness, his guidance and protection, so do all the other people. We are not to judge others, but Almighty God is.

 

[davidthegreek]

Jesus and Hosea meant that our Heavenly Father desires us to have mercy on others, just as we wish Him to have mercy on ourselves. We need his forgiveness, his guidance and protection, so do all the other people. We are not to judge others, but Almighty God is.

sorry for my ignorance. But who is hosea?

 

[Shiranui117]

Hosea was an OT Prophet. The Book of Hosea is one of the books of the Bible.

Hosea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Book of Hosea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[mjweissen]

Additionally, I think these verses are pointing out an essential misbelief that sacrifices or "good works" will redeem a man who is unwilling to follow the Lord. What I mean is that God does not want a sacrifice on the Sabbath if the rest of the week you are unwilling to admit your faults and adhere to His teachings. What good is it on a Sunday morning that a man can sing a hymn of praise if the rest of the days he will not acknowledge the Lord? How authentic can one person's faith truly be if they profess to love the Lord but they hate their neighbor? It is continually repeated throughout the scriptures that if you do not love your neighbor (meaning others) then you do not love the Lord. His focus has never been on good works, but on faith. Good works come out of true faith in God. True faith cannot be produced just from works.

 

[Shiranui117]

Additionally, I think these verses are pointing out an essential misbelief that sacrifices or "good works" will redeem a man who is unwilling to follow the Lord. What I mean is that God does not want a sacrifice on the Sabbath if the rest of the week you are unwilling to admit your faults and adhere to His teachings. What good is it on a Sunday morning that a man can sing a hymn of praise if the rest of the days he will not acknowledge the Lord? How authentic can one person's faith truly be if they profess to love the Lord but they hate their neighbor? It is continually repeated throughout the scriptures that if you do not love your neighbor (meaning others) then you do not love the Lord. His focus has never been on good works, but on faith. Good works come out of true faith in God. True faith cannot be produced just from works.

^Adding onto this, the Fathers, in their commentaries on Scripture, continually point out the necessity of having a proper intention and right attitude in doing works of faith or in giving offerings to God. Doing good works, praying, or anything else are actually abominable to God if we do it because we're going through the motions, instead of doing it out of love and awe for God, and/or concern for our neighbor.

BTW, welcome to the forums!

 

[Bartholomæus]

Hosea 6:6 says: “In loving-kindness I have taken delight, and not in sacrifice; and in the knowledge of God rather than in whole burnt offerings.” So God takes delight in loving-kindness, or loyal love—a quality of the heart—and in knowledge about him. ‘Why does this verse say that Jehovah does not take delight in “sacrifice” and in “whole burnt offerings”?

Sacrifices and offerings were required under the Law, but there was a serious problem with Hosea’s contemporaries. Evidently, there were Israelites who dutifully made such offerings in a showy display of devotion. At the same time, they were practicing sin. By their sinfulness they indicated that their hearts were devoid of loyal love. They also showed that they had rejected knowledge of God, for they were not living in harmony with it. If the people did not have the proper heart condition and were not pursuing the right way of life, of what value were their sacrifices? Their sacrifices were offensive to Jehovah God.

 

[Pegg]

Works in themselves dont redeem a person. You can offer as many sacrifices, or perform as many mosaic law requirements as you like, but God will be more happy with you if you display the quality of mercy to your fellowman.

And if you dont display mercy, then every work and every sacrifice you make will be worthless...God will not be impressed with them.

 

[Ben Dhyan]

Does anyone take it that God is more interested in our showing mercy to others rather than anything else we can give to Him?

Two things to note,...one,..to the extent we are merciful to others, we are giving, since all are of God, and two,..to the extent we are merciful to others, God is merciful to us. (Matthew 5:7)

 

[Shiranui117]

Works in themselves dont redeem a person. You can offer as many sacrifices, or perform as many mosaic law requirements as you like, but God will be more happy with you if you display the quality of mercy to your fellowman.

And if you dont display mercy, then every work and every sacrifice you make will be worthless...God will not be impressed with them.

Works of the law=/=good works. Good works include (but are of course not limited to) showing mercy, clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, loving our neighbor as ourself, and loving God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. Works of the law=/=Mosaic Law requirements and animal sacrifices.

Just thought I'd make that very important distinction... :run:

 

[John 5:46]

Hosea 6:6 For I desired mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. What did Hosea mean by the verse?

Hi ChristineES!
For me, the use of “mercy” in this passage doesn't make sense at all because I know that the Biblical definition of “grace” is receiving something we don’t deserve, while “mercy” is not getting something we DID deserve. So I looked it up in the Strong’s Concordance and the Hebrew word used here is checed and it means “piety.” My dictionary says it means “fidelity to natural obligations (as to parents)” and also “dutifulness in religion.” Since we are told that the Lord is our Father we have certain obligations to Him just as we do to our earthly dads. So a more accurate translation of this verse would be any of these words:
“For I desired (faithfulness/loyalty/vigilance/steadfastness) and for you to know your God even more than I desire burnt offerings.”

The whole context of Hosea 6 (and Isa 1:11) is that Israel was no longer faithful and obedient to the Lord. While they still brought their offerings to the Altar, they relied upon the physical act of sacrifice but their heart wasn’t in it. (See also Isa 29:13 and Matt 15:8) They were just “going thru the motions,” which is no different than Christians who indulge in the world all week and then go to church on Sunday, throw money in the collection plate and proclaim they’re “covered for the week.” But the Sacrificial System that God set up doesn’t work that way. Moses taught that when we bring our offerings to the Altar we are to put our SOUL up on the fire and that we are to understand that it is WE who deserve to die and not the animal. Paul teaches the same thing in Rom 12:1.

So when Yeshua (Jesus) quotes Hosea in Matt 12:7, He’s addressing their unfaithfulness to the Lord and His commandments given by Moses. There is no law in the Torah which prohibits eating a meal with tax collectors and sinners. The Pharisees had corrupted the Law of Moses by adding their own laws on top of what was given to Moses.

We can see the corruption of the Law of Moses even clearer in Matt 9:13. Here, the Pharisees are trying to be “Sabbath Police” by enforcing their own laws regarding “proper” observance of the Sabbath. Their law prohibits healing men while the Law of Moses says no such thing.

In both cases Yeshua (Jesus) is telling them that He desires their loyalty and faithfulness to the Lord and His commandments rather than the false outward appearance of “going thru the motions.” And if they had been faithful then they would’ve understood what was happening and reacted differently.