7  Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil?  Shall I give my firstborn for my transgressions, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?  8  He has always ahown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, and to have mercy, and to walk humbly with God?  9  The Lord's voice cries unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see your name, hear you the rod, and who has appointed it.

 

   The question of God's people can show how far they have strayed from the fait h in God.  In response to God's "lawsuit," the people tried to decide what might  win back God's love.  They were to spiritually ignoratn that they  even proposed offerings of human sacrifice to please God.  They filled their own mind with prejudices against the word of God, and had some objectives wherewith to fortify themselves against every sermon they heard.  This prophet here repeats the heads of the sermons which the former prophets preached to their fathers, because the very same things were required of them now.  "Thus does the Lord of hosts speak to you now, and also did he speak to your fathers, saying Execute true judjment."

The duties here required of them, which would have been the lengthening of tranquility of their father and must be the restoring of their tranquility, are not keeping fasts and offering sacarifices, but doing justly and loving mercy, duties which were bound by the light and lale of nature, though there had been no prophets to insist upon them, duties which had a direct tendency to the public welfare and peace, and which by themselves would be the gainers by, and not God.  Neighbors must have a tender concern for one another, and must not only do one another no wrong, but must be ready to do one another all the good offices that lie in their power.  They show mercy and compassio9n every man to his brother as the case calls for it.  The infirmities of others, as well as their calamities, are to be looked upon with compassion.  This kindness we ask and exercise.

 

2 Kings 3:26-27

 26  And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords, to break through even unton the king of Edom:  but they could not.  27 Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall.  ANd there was great indignation against Israel:  and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.

16:2-3

2  Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sisteen years in Jerusalem and did not that which was right in the sight on the Lord his God, like David his father..  3  But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his sons to pass through fire, according to the abomination of the heathen, whom the Lord cast our before the children of Israel.

2 Corinthians 28:3  MOreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom.  And burnt his children in the fire, after the abomination of the heathen whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israle.

 

They continued to sacrifice their childre to the Canaanite gods throughout the days when Jeremiah and Ezekiel prophesied.

 

Jeremiah 19:5  They have built also the high place of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I command not, nor said it, neither came into my mind.  Ezekiel 23:37  That they have committed adulteery, and blood is in thier hands, and with their idols have they committeed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whome they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them.

 

In both the Old Testament and the New Testament, God required men to have a genuine heartfelt relationship with Him.   The underlying purpose of all the detailed observances required by the Mosaic Law is summed up in these brief statements.

Hosea 6:6  For I desire mercy, and nor sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

 

"Mercy" is translated from the Hebrew word chesed (2671), the closest Old Testament equivalent to the New Testament term "grace."  It incorporates the two commandments which Jesus said were the most important:  to love the Lord your God, and love your neighbor as yourself.

 

Deuteronomy 6:4-9  Jear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord; and thou shall love the Lordd your God wil all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.  And these words which I command you this day, will be in your heart:  And you will teach them diligently to your children, and will talk to them when you dit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.  And you will bnd them for a sign upon your hand, and they will be as frontlets between your eyes, and you will write them upon the posts of your house and on your gates.  Matthew 22:34-40  But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together, Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law?  Jesus said unto him.  You shall Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.  ANd the second is like unto it,  You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.