2.3 The Kingdom of Priests From the Eighth Century B.C Biblical Context
2.3.7 The Covenant Context
2.3.7.7 An Intertextual Study of Hosea 6:6
Hosea 6:6 echoes I Samuel 15:22 in which comparative language is used to emphasize obedience above sacrifice. Psalm 40:6-8 is in the form of a commitment to do the will of God because God does not desire sacrifice or burnt offering. Psalm 51:18,19 expresses repentance, the true sacrifice is a contrite heart. David acknowledges that God does not want a sacrifice and burnt offering. These are the texts that were written before Hosea’s
ministry. Isaiah was a contemporary of Hosea and Jeremiah came later. The use of the words in Hosea 6:6 in the rest of Scripture has been analyzed and the analysis is in the appendix of this research.46
In summing up the findings of the analysis it suffices to state that obedience to the will of God precedes rendering of sacrifices and burnt offerings within the covenant context. In the event of a broken covenant, the maintenance of the cult is meaningless and unacceptable to God. In the New Testament as noted in the Appendix there are three texts that use this similar phrasing as found in Hosea 6:6 applying it in different contexts. Matthew 12:7 uses a quotation from Old Testament to defend his disciples who were condemned by the Pharisees for breaking the Sabbath. The Pharisees were worried about the law but they did not acknowledge the law-giver who was in their midst. In Mark 12:33 the law is summarized as loving God first and then the neighbour. Comparative language is used to show that this love is more important than sacrifice and burnt offerings. Obedience to the law is couched in a love relationship which expresses the same idea of the covenant that is found in Hosea. In Hebrews 10:6-9 the emphasis is on the comparison between the sacrifice of Christ and the Old Testament sacrifices. The reference to God having no pleasure in the sacrifices and burnt offerings seems to point to the covenant that was broken, because verse 9 ‘He took away the first that he may establish the second’. More than that this was the anti-type meeting the type, thereby fulfilling all the purpose for which the typical sacrifices were intended. This seems to be
46
At this point it needs to be noted that there are two major opposing views on the interpretation of Hosea 6:6. Some commentators see an emphasis on obedience: Harper 1979:286 and.Beeby 1989:77 On the other hand other commentators view the message of Hosea 6:6 as “prophetic radicalism against the cult…The formulation is probably rooted in the long struggle between the Mosaic Yahwism of the amphictyonic league and the characteristic cult of Canaan. The struggle did not end in the Old Testament (Matt 9:13; 12:7)” Mays 1969: 98.
a quotation from Psalm 40:7-9. So far all the texts we have examined in the New Testament quote or allude directly to the Old Testament, and express the importance of obedience and doing the will of God.47
Another passage that makes no direct reference to the Old Testament but echoes the same principles as Hosea 6:6 is in Matthew 7:15-23. First there is a warning about false prophets “who come in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matt.7:15). There is a clear incongruence between the way they appear and what they are. Jesus says “by their fruits you shall know them” (Matt.7:20). This refers both to their lifestyle and the results of their work. In verse 21 Jesus continues: “not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven”. Obedience is more important than lip service. In verse 22 there is a scene of judgment portrayed “many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord have we not prophesied in thy name? In thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works?” This is a claim from those who have rendered a service in the name of the Lord. Like God’s people in Hosea who continued to offer sacrifices in the name of the Lord. But Jesus says to them “I never knew you: depart from me you that work iniquity” The Greek word used here ginw,skwginw,skwginw,skwginw,skw does not seem to carry a common meaning but a deeper meaning that is embedded in the Old Testament word
[d:Þy"
which may be used to refer to an intimate relationship between husband and wife (Gen.4:1). Just as the Israelites thought they knew God because of their offerings to Him, the same word appears^Wnà[]d:y>) i
in (Hos. 8:2). God rejected them because He says “I desire goodness, not sacrifice; obedience to God, rather than burnt offerings” (Hos.6:6). Therefore in47
Matthew 7 the relationship with God is critical before one can render service to God. Having looked at how Hosea 6:6 is used intertextually and canonically we now give a brief attention to the historical background.
2.3.7.8 The Covenant and the Kingdom of Priests in Hosea
So far we have established that in Hosea there is an evident focus on the covenant. The evidence from the text points to a broken covenant. While the people breached the covenant they continued the sacrifices, which were established by God. Within this context God said “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget they children” (Hosea 4:6). It was only within the covenant context and relationship that Israel would be God’s priests. Revoking the covenant meant that they forfeited the promise God made that they will be a kingdom of priests (Ex. 19:6).
The ultimate aim of their priesthood is clearly portrayed in Hosea 1:10 “yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, yea are the sons of the living God.” There is a clear echo in this verse that points back to the covenant with Abraham. God has not forgotten His promise to Abraham, and also the promise He made at Sinai, that they shall be a ‘kingdom of priests’. These promises were to be fulfilled on condition that the covenant terms were kept.
The eighth century prophets seem to reiterate the same idea of Israel being a blessing to the nations a ‘kingdom of priests’. Payne expresses this as the “ultimately universal direction of the Gospel” (Payne, 1962:191). For Amos, God’s blessings and curses affected both Israel and the other nations (Amos 1:3-2:3; 9:7); Isaiah, sees the scattering of God’s people among as a means of glorifying God (Isa. 24:14-16),
But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves…For I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed (Isaiah 61:6,8,9).
The reference to the everlasting covenant is an indication that God had one covenant with His people that was broken and renewed a number of times because of the unfaithfulness of the people as we have seen demonstrated in the book of Hosea. The idea of the ministry of the entire community comes out very prominently. The concept of universal mission for the covenant people of God was not a later development.
The sinaitic testament though particularistic, was not exclusivistic. A large ‘mixed multitude’ had been allowed to come up with Israel out of Egypt (Ex. 12:38)…Still, the very terms of the Sinaitic testament included the thought of a broader mission. For Israel’s purpose was one of service – they were to become a ‘sovereignty (not a self-contained kingdom) of priests’ (Ex. 19:6), so that through Israel salvation might be mediated to the world as a whole.
Hosea’s message that all nations will be incorporated into the kingdom of God as sons of God is echoed in Romans 9:24-26; Obadiah viewed the kingdom of God as extending beyond the nation of Israel and their territory (Mic. 4:1-4; cf Isa. 2:2-4; 11:10). Jonah was sent to the Assyrians by God to preach and the Ninevites repented (Jonah 1:17; 3:10; 4:11). When Israel breached the covenant and failed to meet the ideal that God had for them, the same promise was transferred to the new Israel the church.
In the Church, Israel’s purpose of universalism lies fulfilled. The Church, is in all the world, but it is not of the world (John 17:14-16). Christians are both the elect remnant out of the world ( I Pet. 2:8,9) and yet also the sovereignty of priests who are to mediate salvation to the world (Rev. 1:6) and who are some day to reign in glory over it (2:26;5:10). We are elect, both to privilege and to responsibility. (Payne ,1944:194)