ESOCS Devotional 27 March 2024 – Obedience, Not Sacrifice
MEMORY VERSE: ““But this thing I commanded them saying, Obey my voice and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you” Jeremiah 7:23
TEXT: JEREMIAH 7:21-28
“The Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to the people of Judah: ‘You might as well go ahead and add the meat of your burnt offerings to that of the other sacrifices and eat it, too! 22 Consider this: When I spoke to your ancestors after I brought them out of Egypt, I did not merely give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23 I also explicitly commanded them: “Obey me. If you do, I will be your God and you will be my people. Live exactly the way I tell you and things will go well with you.” 24 But they did not listen to me or pay any attention to me. They followed the stubborn inclinations of their own wicked hearts. They acted worse and worse instead of better. 25 From the time your ancestors departed the land of Egypt until now, I sent my servants the prophets to you again and again, day after day. 26 But your ancestors did not listen to me nor pay attention to me. They became obstinate and were more wicked than even their own forefathers.’”
27 Then the Lord said to me, “When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you. When you call out to them, they will not respond to you. 28 So tell them: ‘This is a nation that has not obeyed the Lord their God and has not accepted correction. Faithfulness is nowhere to be found in it. These people do not even profess it anymore.
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God does not forbid sacrifices, nay, He instituted them: burnt offering, trespass offering, meat offering, peace offering, etc. He reminds Israel by the mouth of the prophet that when He brought them out from the iron gate of bondage Egypt, He did not command or charge their fathers to offer unto Him burnt nor peace offerings. What was dear to His heart was to have them as His people and He as their God.
A people which would walk in the righteous ordinances of their God, ordinances which He set before them. Peculiar ordinances that made them separate and distinct from other nations; and made them superior to other nations (Deut. 4:8). Moses and Aaron had to teach them the ordinances from generation to generation. God made them great promises upon their obedience to His commandments, a promise to be their God, and they His people and that it may be well with them. This promise is expanded into blessings of the covenant (Deut. 28:1-14) and covered every blessing that believers will desire.
Israel chose rather to abandon the voice and commandments of the Lord for sacrifices, which were only secondary and outward expressions of piety without inward piety. Without inwards commitment to God, all outward expressions of religion are vain and self-serving. Hence, He said to them: you are free to add your burnt offerings to your peace offering and eat them all for I will have none of them.
We cannot disobey God and try to bribe our way through Him or please Him with sacrifices. Rightly did Prophet Samuel tell Saul: “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams” (1 Sam. 15:22b). A Christian song says: Trust and obey, there is no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.
Take a moment to imagine that you sent your son to go keep the shop, but rather than keep it, he abandons it. Later he comes home holding some gifts for you. This is the kind of relationship that some of us try to keep with God. Disobey Him, walk contrary to His word all year round and come with some great thanksgiving. The pastor will pray for you and may even sing your praises; but God looks down from above and says to tell you: I will have obedience, not sacrifice.
- What does God treasure in believers above sacrifices?
- Father, I pray thee, give me a heart to obey you and walk with you in the light of your word at all times, in Jesus name.
Further Reading: Exodus 15:26; Deuteronomy 28:1-14
ESOCS Devotional 27 March 2024
