4 ¶ O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee?
O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning
cloud, and as the early adew it goeth away.
5 Therefore have I hewed them by the
prophets; I have aslain them by the words of my mouth: and
thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth.
6 For aI desired
bmercy, and not sacrifice; and the
cknowledge of God more than burnt
dofferingsa.
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6a the knowledge of God more than burnt
offerings The outward ordinance performance of animal sacrifice
was intended to increase the understanding of the atonement of the Son of
God to come, that he would come and take the sins of the world upon himself.
But in Samaria/Ephraim/Israel the calf sacrifice had become an end in itself
as the worship turned to the idol itself and away from a remembrance of the
coming condescention of God. Likewise in Judah, though they did not formally
turn to idol worship in 'calf' worship in the temple ordinance, they had also
become more concerned with the order of sacrifice and performance more than
similitude remembrance even to the extend that formally the 'shepherds' of
the flock no longer preached and saw in the sacrifice ordiance a smilitude
of the coming of the Son of God. And even at that, Judah in private had turned
to idole and pagan worship in the groves.
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