What Does God Want?

Hosea 6:6 

“For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” 

We are given record of Christ quoting the first half of this verse on two occasions: both times He was speaking to Pharisees, and both times He emphasized that we need to understand what “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” means. Some people believe that Christ was speaking against the Law in saying this, indicating that God is not (or was not) pleased with observances of the Law, such as the sacrifices and burnt offerings mentioned. This is one of many scriptures that people twist to try to invalidate God’s law.

First, let’s see what we can gain from the context of the verse Christ was quoting and the meaning of the words used in Hosea:

Hosea 6:4-7

(4) Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears. (5) Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets, I killed you with the words of my mouth; my judgments flashed like lightning upon you. (6) For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings. (7) Like Adam, they have broken the covenant - they were unfaithful to me there.

The word that is translated as “mercy” in verse 6 is translated as “love” in verse 4. It means “zeal towards anyone; love and kindness” either towards God or towards men. Therefore, we can see that God was saying that he desires that they have true love for Him as well as one another, and that this love would endure forever, unlike their previous so-called love.

Continuing, the first word of verse 6 is “for,” and this is to indicate that God is explaining why He is punishing them: it’s because He wanted mercy (or, more appropriately, faithfulness and devotion), but all they would give Him was sacrifice. He wanted them to acknowledge Him as God, but all they would do was offer Him burnt offerings. God wanted them to truly fulfill His Law, which is founded on love through obedience rather than just obedience (or just love, for that matter.)

Consider also that the next verse clarifies this point: “like Adam they have broken the covenant – they were unfaithful to me there.” The old covenant did include sacrifices and burnt offerings and many other physical observances, but it was all predicated on love for God and love for one's neighbor, and when God says “they have broken the covenant,” He is referring to their lack of love to go along with the physical observances He commanded. God was not telling the Israelites that he did not want sacrifices – God Himself ordained the sacrifices! The NET Bible captures this meaning well, as it translates Hosea 6:6 as follows: “For I delight in faithfulness, not simply in sacrifice; I delight in acknowledging God, not simply in whole burnt offerings.” Indeed, as the NIV text notes conclude, “sacrifice apart from faithfulness to the Lord’s will is wholly unacceptable to Him.” The key point that is often overshadowed, however, is that sacrifice is required in order to demonstrate faithfulness.

Now let’s step back and examine how this scripture logically fits within the context of everything else that God has done. Every aspect of God’s law has a purpose that must be fulfilled. God’s law is eternal and holy. Does God desire sacrifice? Of course He does - He commanded it! If God did not desire sacrifice, then there would have been no need for Christ to be sacrificed. If God’s law of sacrifice to atone for sins could be somehow nullified, abrogated, or otherwise "done away with," then it would have been! It would have been swept aside if it were possible, because Jesus Christ Himself prayed for this, crying out to God:

Matthew 26:42

My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.

Christ said this because He, as a human with emotions and fleshly pulls, did not want to endure the physical harm that He knew that He was about to suffer. Why did He have to suffer these things? He died so that we would have a Sacrifice capable of satisfying the law in order that we, by accepting Him as our Sacrifice, would not perish for our sins.

At this point, let's now remember what is revealed about God's perspective on sacrifice in Hebrews:

Hebrews 10:8-10

First [Christ] said, "Sacrifice and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made.) Then He said, "Here I am, I have come to do Your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

It's not that God didn't want sacrifice - it's that the law could not be properly kept through animal sacrifices. What was the purpose of sacrifices? To atone for sin. Why? Because "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). Paul didn't make that up himself - God's law dictated that anyone who sinned would die: "Cursed is the man who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out" (Deuteronomy 27:26). The law carries a death penalty with it for those who are unable to obey it: "The soul who sins is the one that will die" (Ezekiel 18:4).

The only way to absolve someone from the death penalty of the law is by Christ’s perfect sacrifice to cover our sins. If you believe that the law is not in effect, then what good is Christ’s sacrifice, since it saves you from the death penalty of the law? God’s law of sacrifice has not been abolished! On the contrary, Christ is our sacrifice in accordance with God’s law. We don’t reject or lay aside the law by accepting Him as our sacrifice; rather, we acknowledge and embrace it. Christ didn't just die for you - he fulfilled the sacrificial requirements of the law for you in a way that you could not do for yourself.

In the same way, God wants us to uphold the rest of the law in a way that we are not capable of doing on our own, as the discussion in Hebrews goes on to explain by quoting Jeremiah's prophecy about the New Covenant:

Hebrews 10:16-17 (Jeremiah 33:33-34)

"This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds." Then he adds: "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more." 

The whole point of the New Covenant is so that we can fulfill God's law. That's why we are given the Holy Spirit after we accept Christ's sacrifice through repentance, baptism, and the laying on of hands: so that we can then go on to submit to God's law, making our own body a sacrifice to God.

Romans 12:1

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship.