SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/20/2021 10:16 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
“The Argument From Scripture”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
9:12-13
Message of the verses: “12 But when Jesus
heard this, He said, "It is not those who are healthy who
need a physician, but those who are sick. 13 “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and
not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but
sinners."
In
our SD for today we will be looking at the second argument against what the
Pharisees have said, and that argument is from Scripture. Notice verse 13 where Jesus says “go and learn what this means: ‘I
desire compassion, and not sacrifice.’”
In the lesson that I am to teach this Sunday evening that comes from
Psalm 50 it has some things in it that certainly go along with what Jesus is
asking the Pharisees to search out. In
that 50th Psalm we see a court scene that has God as the Judge, and
the jury. God it telling the children of
Israel that they certainly have the wrong attitude about offering sacrifices to
Him. I will talk more about this later.
The
quotation that Jesus gives here is from Hosea 6:6 “For I delight in loyalty
rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” Jesus is saying “It is the perfect Word of
God and not the flawed words of men that you should be concerned about, and His
Word calls you to be merciful and forgiving, not judgmental and condemning.” (These words come from MacArthur’s commentary
speculating about the thought of Jesus, and in my opinion they are very good.)
MacArthur
writes “The fact that the quotation was from Hosea made it all the more
pointed. The story of Gomer’s
unfaithfulness to her husband, Hosea, was a living illustration of Israel’s own
unfaithfulness to God; and Hosea’s continuing love and forgiveness of Gomer was
a picture of the continuing love and forgiveness God offered Israel. And just as God then desired ‘compassion’
rather than ‘sacrifice,’ He still did.
Without ‘compassion,’ and the rituals, ceremonies, and sacrifices of the
Pharisees were unacceptable to God.
Without ‘compassion’ they proved themselves to be more ungodly even than
the despised tax-gatherers and sinners, who made no pretense of godliness.”
I
believe that many people even today misunderstand much about the sacrificial system
that the Lord enstated for Israel, as many think that these sacrifices were
something that could save people, but that is not the reason why they were
instituted by God. In the book of
Hebrews we can see a theme “From Shadows to Substance,” and the sacrificial
system along with other things in the OT was a mere shadow what Christ did
when He came to earth to become our sacrificial Passover Lamb. The sacrificial system was divinely
instituted and when the prescribed offerings were made to Him in a spirit of
humility, penitence, and reverence, they were pleasing to the Lord. However when offered insincerely and in a
spirit of self-righteousness and self-satisfaction, they became instead an
abomination. The rituals and the ceremonies
were only as valid as showing real remorse of the worshiper. The person who sacrificed to God in genuine
reverence would serve his fellow man in genuine compassion, but the opposite is
true of the one who just did it a ritual, as they could be cold toward God, no
matter how orthodox their theology was.
MacArthur concludes "I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. 22 "Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept [them;]And I will not [even] look at the peace offerings of your fatlings (fat cows). 23 "Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. 24 "But let justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. (Amos 5:21-24).
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I am blessed by the Lord for this section
because it goes along with what I will be teaching in our Sunday school class
Sunday evening.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I trust the Lord to see me through the next
few days as there is a lot on my plate at this time.
5/20/2021 11:46 AM
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