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Why Does God Desire Mercy?
Hosea 6:6 reads, “I desire loyalty and not sacrifice. In Matthew 12:7 the reading is “I desire mercy and not sacrifice”.
Read the following definition carefully: “Mercy is the reading in the LXX, whereas in the Hebrew it is “covenant-loyalty, covenant-love”. Mercy is as it is defined, loyalty to God’s covenant”.
The point is not that God does not want sacrifice and all that matters is showing mercy. The point is when sacrifice is seen as only something given to God, it is forgotten that giving sacrifice is God showing us mercy! All our worship to God is Him showing us mercy.
And we must likewise show the same mercy to others. Our response to others is in response to God’s response to us. All of worship is a response to mercy received and therefore how we act to others is too. Showing mercy is worship and often takes “sacrifice”.
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